We are delighted to announce that Arron Aatkar (Industrial PhD Student, Cohort 8) has been awarded a Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) scholarship of £5,000 over two years to support his PhD: ‘Accelerating Drug Discovery with Covalent Fragment Libraries: Design, Development, and Deployment of Sulfur(VI) Fluoride Warheads for Rapid and Robust Target Validation and Hit Identification’                                                                  

In addition to the scholarship, he will benefit from publishing opportunities, access to a high-calibre network to help launch his career, and opportunities to present his work and raise his profile within the scientific community.

SCI Scholarships are prestigious and well respected by the industry. The SCI Scholars Fund was established in 1920 by the requests of Rudolph Messel and John Gray, both former presidents and founding members of the SCI.

Arron says:

"Since joining the GSK/University of Strathclyde Collaborative PhD Programme, I have taken great pleasure in exploring cutting-edge science in an applied industrial environment. I am currently approaching the end of my first year and am looking forward to continuing my work in the field of chemical biology. Ultimately, I hope that my PhD will help to accelerate the generation of new medicines by expanding the druggable proteome. I am incredibly grateful to have been awarded a SCI Scholarship; this will provide a wealth of opportunity for me to develop both as a scientist and as a versatile individual. In addition, I am confident that the support offered by SCI will be invaluable to the progress and application of my researchhD as it will provide support for my research and future career prospects."

Huge congratulations to Arron and many thanks also to Arron's academic and industrial supervisors, Professor Nick Tomkinson (Strathclyde) and Dr Jake Bush (GSK).